Personal long-distance calls at work

This instalment of You Make the Call takes a look at a federal public-sector employee who was suspended for one day after making more than 75 personal long-distance phone calls at work.

Bruce Ennis, a Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) employee, was given the one-day suspension for making long distance phone calls at work both during and after working hours.

An internal audit conducted by HRSD revealed that between Jan. 1, 2003, and Oct. 31, 2003, 180 long-distance calls were made from his workstation. Ennis identified 78 calls as being of a personal nature. The total time spent on these personal calls was 11 hours 45 minutes, of which eight-and-a-half hours were during his regularly scheduled hours of work.